The present invention relates to lure dressings and, in particular, to a modular system of spinner blade assemblies, rattle assemblies or combination rattle-spinner blade assemblies that can be mounted to elastomer collars and filamentary arms or to a wire form or filament weed guard that extends from a lure.
A variety of rattle dressings have been developed for fishing lures to enhance lure presentation with audible sound. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,899,015; 5,709,047; 5,524,378; 5,524,379; 5,517,782; and 5,426,886 disclose a number of rattle lures and modular rattle dressings. Some of the foregoing include rattles that are molded into the lead head of the lure. Others disclose detachable collars that can support rattle assemblies.
Spinner blade dressings also exist that enhance lure presentation with visual flash and movement. The spinner blades are typically attached to wire forms (i.e. bent wire supports) or other rigid supports that allow the blades to freely move.
The modular dressings of the present invention were developed to appeal to the visual and audible senses of a fish. Some enhance both audible and visual presentation of a lure. A variety of modular assemblies are particularly disclosed that can be attached to a desired lure (e.g. a jig or spinner bait) at flexible elastomer supports such as collars or filaments that extend from such collars. The spinner blade and rattle assemblies are also mountable to filaments and wire forms that extend from a lure. The durometer of filamentary portions of each assembly can be tailored to provide a preferred flexibility to match the lure and/or other provided dressings, such as multi-filament skirts and trailer dressings (e.g. molded artificial bait).
It is a primary object of the invention to provide a modular system of dressings for fishing lures wherein detachable visual and audible stimulating assemblies mount to elastomer collars and/or filamentary arms that extend from a collar piece or members that project from a lure.
It is a further object of the invention to provide alternative spinner blade assemblies that mount to elastomer collars and/or filamentary arms that extend from a collar piece.
It is a further object of the invention to provide alternative spinner blade assemblies that extend from rattle chambers that mount to elastomer collars and/or filamentary arms that extend from a collar piece.
It is a further object of the invention to provide alternative combinations of rattle chambers that are sealed with spinner blade assemblies and which chambers mount to other rattle chambers along a filamentary support.
It is a further object of the invention to provide spinner blade and/or rattle assemblies that mount to a filamentary member that extends from a fishing lure.
It is a further object of the invention to provide spinner blade and rattle assemblies having a collar and a filamentary elastomer member that mount to a wire form support that extends from a fishing lure.
The foregoing objects, advantages and distinctions of the invention, among others, are obtained in a number of presently preferred assemblies. Several assemblies provide filaments that extend from a bored elastomer collar and which filaments include recessed end caps or couplers having a cavity that support a swivel mounted spinner blade. Several assemblies provide bored collars or collars with filaments having couplers and/or recessed end caps that support rattle chambers that are plugged with swivel-mounted spinner blades.
Other assemblies include multiple rattle chambers that are interconnected with a filament and one of which rattle chambers supports a swivel mounted spinner blade. Another assembly includes a spinner blade mounted between a rattle chamber and a connector flange. Another assembly includes a spinner blade assembly that connects to a filament that extends from a fishing lure.
Still other assemblies provide fishing lures having wire forms that extend from a headpiece. A collar mounts to the wire form and elastomer filament(s) that support swivel mounted spinner blades and/or rattles trail from the collar.
Still other objects, advantages and distinctions of the invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following detailed description with respect to the appended drawings. Similar components and assemblies shown at the various drawings are referred to with similar alphanumeric reference characters. To the extent various modifications and improvements have been considered, they are described as appropriate.